Chakka Puzhukk

There was a lone Chakka (Jackfruit) that had ripened way too much and there were no takers for the fruit at this point. But Amma seemed thrilled about this! She whipped up something quick for lunch with the Jackfruit that had been deemed too far gone. It was a simple dish with the Chakka cut up into small cubes and cooked with some salt and chilli powder. But she looked blissful as she ate it with the hot-hot Kanji and some Pappadam on the side. Apparently, this was her great-grandmother’s breakfast meal often but not something that was served to the kids. And as she told me this story, I imagined a little her looking into the kitchen from the verandah janala of that old ancestral home, probably with greedy eyes and a drooling mouth, watching the old matriarch slurping away at the long kitchen table. Clearly, an ancient craving was being fulfilled that day.